Yeadon residents make noise at council meeting

YEADON — Chanting “You must step down” and “We want you out,” a group of about 75 residents on Thursday stopped borough council members from voting to re-affirm decisions made at the borough’s reorganization meeting earlier this month, just hours after borough officials and residents filed a lawsuit against half of council for the latter’s actions at that same meeting.

“We believe that these appointments are illegal and that all proceedings from the meeting are illegal,” said Isaac Dotson, a former council member and leader of the community group Fellowship of the Doers. “I will ask, then request, then demand that the four of you resign and step down.”

Hours before Thursday’s meeting, Yeadon Mayor Rohan Hepkins, council member Rosalind Jones Johnson, and residents Carolina Harris and Jacqueline Puriefoy-Brinkley filed an injunction against council president Sharon Council and vice president Nelva Wright, as well as council members Learin Johnson and Dolores McCabe, alleging that the group has been violating the state Sunshine Act by meeting outside of open council meetings, prohibiting public comment at public meetings and acting on matters not published on meeting agendas.

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Hepkins, Jones Johnson, Harris and Puriefoy-Brinkley are asking the court to void votes cast at the Jan. 6 reorganization meeting to hire Raymond Santarelli as solicitor and the firm of Joseph P. Possenti Jr. & Associates as the borough’s manager, as well as votes cast to hire the borough’s finance director and front desk coordinator.

Thursday’s meeting started with a motion by Council to amend the evening’s agenda to add motions to re-affirm the appointments of Santarelli and Possenti’s firm, to re-open the 2014 budget, and to adopt a management plan.

At the Jan. 6 meeting, council had voted 4-3 in favor of those motions, with Council, McCabe, Wright and Learin Jones voting in favor and Jones Johnson, Gracie Snead and Clara Johnson voting against.

Jones Johnson immediately protested Council’s call for an amendment.

“I want the changes in the agenda in writing for the members of council and the members of the community,” she said, drawing applause from those in attendance.

Council relented, calling for a five-minute recess to allow the new document to be printed and copied. As those five minutes turned into 10, and then 15, the crowd grew restless.

“Five minutes is up,” one man shouted. “It’s over five minutes.”

Council returned after about 20 minutes and again called for a vote on the revised agenda.

“Earlier today, several council people were served with a lawsuit,” she said. “In the interest of council and out of an abundance of caution, we are calling for a vote to amend the agenda to reflect (the Jan. 6) vote. We are by no means admitting to the validity of the (lawsuit).”

Santarelli added that he had advised council to reaffirm the vote.

Reiterating a point she had made at the Jan. 6 meeting, Jones Johnson said she and other council members had not received background information on the parties to be appointed.

“None of us has any information in front of us,” she said. “If you have it, you need to share it with the elected officials and the members of the community.”

Saying Jones Johnson’s comments were “duly noted,” Council again called for the vote.

“I assure you, I will be taking additional legal action on this meeting as well,” Jones Johnson said.

Eventually, the agenda was amended by a 4-3 vote, with Council, McCabe, Wright and Learin Johnson again voting in favor of the motion. At that, residents took to the podium to air their thoughts.

“You have acted illegally and appear to be incompetent,” Dotson said. “When you ran for office, each one of you pledged to do no harm. Just a few months ago, we were on the precipice of having the kind of community we could take to the next level. Because of your incompetence, we find ourselves going backwards by 10 years.”

Linda Mapp said she was “appalled” by the proceedings.

“All of these things are out of order,” she said. “Decisions are being made without the full knowledge of council. All of this is illegal and out of order.”

After a few additional comments, Council called for a vote to reaffirm the vote appointing Santarelli as solicitor. A number of residents, led by Harris, Jones Johnson, Clara Johnson and Snead, stood and chanted “No roll call,” switching after about two minutes to a chant of “You must step down.”

After about five minutes, Council addressed the attendees.

“I have entertained your disapproval,” she said. “You have asked several questions about how we can present a management team to council. I remind you that we were not sworn in on Jan. 5, or Jan. 4, or Nov. 27. We were not sworn in. How could we present this management team to council? We were not empowered to present anything to council until we were sworn in.”

Council said previous council members had had the chance to appoint their own administrative teams.

“We have had five borough managers in seven years,” she said. “You have a study from the Delta Group that says to this town that you guys have a lot of problems internally. They gave the recommendation to do what is common sense — to tell you you needed a borough manager and you needed financial stability.”

That led to another round of chants, with residents shouting “We want you out” to Council and other council members.

“We are not going anywhere,” Council said.

After a few more minutes, Learin Johnson suggested council table the meeting to allow for more time to review the appointments. Her suggestion was met with a standing ovation from several residents.

Eventually, after several more minutes of back-and-forth with residents, council voted to adjourn the meeting. The entire proceeding lasted about two hours.

Santarelli said Friday that the appointments made at the Jan. 6 meeting, including those regarding the solicitor and borough manager positions, would remain in effect. There was no word Friday on whether and when Thursday’s meeting would be reconvened.